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Wednesday, 17 August 2016

What the George Soros hack revealed

The
bulk of George Soros' documents hacked and published on DC Leaks
website shed the light on the magnates' meddling into Ukrainian
affairs and shaping public opinion in Western Europe regarding the
February coup of 2014 in Kiev through a series of projects and media
campaigns.

DC
Leaks' release of almost
2,576 files from groups run by US billionaire George
Soros,
has exposed
the magnate's involvement in Ukraine's
Euromaidan affairs as well as manipulation of public
opinion in Western and Southern Europe in order to
"legalize" the February 2014 coup in Kiev.

"The
emergence of a New Ukraine carries with it the opportunity
to reinvigorate the European project," read a 2015 document
by the Open Society Initiative for Europe (OSIFE) entitled
"The Ukraine debate in Western Europe."

"However,
this is complicated by the reluctance of some EU actors
to accept the Maidan revolution as democratic and the
Ukrainian government as legitimate. These actors have their own
agendas — related to geopolitical and economic
considerations with Russia — and will therefore be
difficult to influence," the OSIFE document underscored,
adding that "for other groups and individuals, on the
political left and across various social movements, one can
detect confusion regarding the state of affairs in Ukraine."

OSIFE
specified that this "second group" comprised key
opinion-makers, a number of traditional mainstream players,
emerging political parties — especially in Southern
Europe — such as M5S in Italy, Podemosin Spain
and Syrizain Greece,
and "a wide range of liberal NGOs in western Europe."

In
order to tackle the "problem," the organization
offered to kick off a series of initiatives aimed
at shaping public opinion in the West regarding the
Ukrainian affairs.

The
document revealed that OSIFE pursued three major objectives.

First,
it sought to "stimulate debate and doubt in those
democratic left movements, parties and audiences of Western
Europe where a negative perception of the transformation
of Ukraine is hegemonic, or very preponderant."

Second,
it wanted to "discredit the idea that the independence and
integrity of Ukraine is an ideological cause of the Right."

Third,
OSIFE intended to "influence the way information about Ukraine
is heard and perceived in Southern Europe, especially among the
group of doubters."

The
issue was dramatically complicated by the fact that the major
driving forces of the so-called "Euromaidan Revolution"
of February 2014 were the Ukrainian far-right groups, most
notably the nationalist All-Ukrainian Union Svoboda and Right Sector,
founded by ultra-right Trident and the Ukrainian National
Assembly-Ukrainian National Self-Defense (UNA-UNSO) paramilitary
group.

"The
surge in violence sparked by Right Sector has revealed how
uncritical and undiscerning most of the media has been of the
far-right parties and movements that have played a leading role
in the 'Euromaidan,'" US journalist Alec Luhn warned
on January 21, 2014, in his article for the
Nation.

It
was again the right-wing militants who championed Kiev's
Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) in eastern Ukraine aimed
against the breakaway Donbass regions.

However,
regardless of Kiev's activities casting shadow on the image
of "New Ukraine," OSIFE's plan envisaged spending $750,000
in 2015 on grants, consultancy contracts, fellowships,
workshops, exchange visits, conferences and advocacy activities
in order to reach the objectives.

For
instance, the Soros entity planned to provide "greater
presence of voices from Ukraine's civil society in left
leaning and alternative press" in the West.

In
addition, it sought to amplify "left-wing 'pro-Maidan'
opinion formers' voices" in the debate on Ukraine
by organizing conferences "on the New Ukraine
in partnership with the political science/international
affairs department in the leading universities in each
of Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Greece."

"Russia's
line on Ukraine will be subjected to a greater degree
of scrutiny and skepticism by the left-wing actors involved
in this project, relating to the European anti-fascist
movement will be a key entry point in this debate," the
document read.

To
manipulate the Europeans' vision of Maidan, OSIFE planned
to involve such reputable mainstream media source as,
for example, the Guardian ("to increase coverage of voices
from the New Ukraine — e.g. Maidan") and the
alternative press such as Eurozine, Huffington Post, Street
Press, Internazionale as "key influencers for the audience
we [OSIFE] are targeting."

The
document shows that OSIFE envisioned funding translations of articles
of Ukrainian journalists and providing individual grants to
"investigative" reporters covering the situation on the
ground in Ukraine to counter Russia's narrative.

But
that is not all. Another document released by DC Leaks indicates
how OSIFE planned to "amplify independent media voices
from Ukraine in France."

"We
have established contact with Hromadske International, an
emerging media outlet in Ukraine combining broadcast and online
content," the report read, adding that Hromadske may become a
potential Ukrainian "incubator" for the project.

OSIFE
also planned to involve Mediapart in France to kick
off the project.

"The
good potential synergy between Hromadske and Mediapart… offers
an opportunity to launch this project by OSF enabling an
introduction between Hromadske and Mediapart," the report
continued.

OSIFE
foresaw that such a partnership "would allow Hromadske and
inroad into France," with the potential for further
expansion of its partnership network in four other EU's
"key countries" — Germany, Spain, Italy and Greece.

The
two documents observed constitute only the tip of the iceberg
of George Soros' comprehensive and longstanding policy regarding
Ukraine. However, they shed light on the depth of the
billionaire's interference into the affairs of the
post-Soviet state.

The
Saturday leak turned the spotlight on George Soros' global
activities, exposing work plans, strategies, priorities of the
Soros-run entities across the world, covering the period
from 2008 to 2016.

"Soros,
the master manipulator of governments who pulls the strings
at the State Department, will face unprecedented scrutiny,"
Thomas Lifson of the American Thinker commented on the
hack.